Blog Archives

Color my World with Pencils

4/27/2018

This week for Demo, Wendy showed us how much she LOVES the Prismacolor pencils!!

She showed us some fun techniques.. coloring on wood panels, paper, and this new Dura Lar Film!!

This new film is *kind of* like a matte-coat acetate.. but the texture is SO SMOOTH the colored pencils just glide across the surface!!

Wendy colored on White card stock, Black card stock and Dura Lar paper so you can REALLY see the difference!!

(The Sun image is a Stampendous Design. Wendy was able to stamp and emboss onto the Dura Lar without the paper wrinkling under the heat.. this is a FANTASTIC new product.. )

We have been carrying Prismacolor pencils for YEARS and they are our favorite Artist Grade colored pencil.. they are waxed base. Our preferred way to blend the colors together is by using Gamsol (mineral spirits) and stumps

Wendy also showed a fun technique..

Stamp and image in Versamark ink, color over it with Prismacolor pencils, and then outline the image with a black Glaze Pen!!!

Want to learn more about what you can do with Prismacolor pencils? Stop by to see us!! We would LOVE to inspire you!!

Tuesday with Wendy, April 24th

4/27/2018

Check out the 3 WONDERFUL cards from class this week!!

For the first card, Wendy used:

-Crab from Impression Obsession
-Coral Fancy Die from Hero Arts
-3 Colors of Distress Ink: Chipped Sapphire, Blueprint Sketch, and Mermaid Lagoon
-5 Colors of Delicata Ink: Ruby Red, Emerald Green, Sapphire Blue, Champagne, Celestial Copper

To make this card:

Stamp out the Crab onto Solar White card stock and color it in using a coral-colored Faber Castell Marker
Create a mask of the crab (to do this, stamp out the crab onto a separate piece of paper, fussy cut it, and overlay it on top of the crab you just stamped out.. it should match up and perfectly cover the stamped image).
Lay the mask on top of the crab, holding it in place, and use the 3 colors of Distress Inks to swipe across the rest of the paper until you have transferred enough ink to create an interesting blue background

Then, die-cut the Coral using black card stock
Wendy used the new Delicata inks to lightly colorize the coral/seaweed by just lightly rubbing the ink pad onto the die-cut shapes
Accent the card with a little bit of Gold Mesh Ribbon and glue down the coral/seaweed using the Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive

I just LOVE this card!!!!

What a fun technique using the new Delicata metallic inks!!

This next card was made using:

Tonic- Layering Circles
Penny Black- So Many Thanks

To make the card:

Wendy used one of the new papers from the Graphic 45 line, Floral Shoppe
Wendy explained that you can run the dies at the same time through the die-cut machine by laying the sentiment INSIDE one of the circles. She cut the shapes out of the floral paper mentioned above.
Then, Wendy mounted the die-cuts onto purple paper, added a bit of 2-tone purple ribbon, and mounted the entire thing onto a light pink card base

As you can see below, the circle is cut out of the floral paper and the sentiment is cut out of the floral paper but the purple background peeks through!!

The last card that Wendy designed was SO STUNNING!!

She used:

-5 Delicata Inks: Ruby Red, Emerald Green, Sapphire Blue, Champagne, Celestial Copper
-Tree Stamp from Fred B. Mullett

To make the card:

Take a piece of black card stock and swipe each of the Delicata inks across the paper
Stamp the trees in Onyx Black Versafine ink
Use Detail Clear Embossing powder and heat-set it
Layer the image with Antique Gold paper and mount onto Burgundy card stock

This card is SO EASY to make and has a STUNNING appearance!! What a FUN IDEA!!!!

To sign up for the next Tuesday with Wendy class, give us a call here at the store!! 360-647-9663

The next card making class will be offered on Tuesday, May 8th

Miniature Ideas

4/20/2018

For Demo this past week, we had SO MUCH FUN learning new ideas for making Miniatures!! Elli was the demonstrator and she showed everyone how to make small miniature dioramas and card ideas...

This first one was made using a recycled chocolate tin...

Elli made books, a broomstick, tiny ink and quill and SO MUCH MORE!! The little cats can be found in any toy store... these ones specifically came from the Yeager's Toy Store

This miniature was made with a Harry Potter theme to it.. and it was incredibly fun to see all the details come together...

This idea is fun.. This paper is new from Carta Bella, Spring Market.. and we showed how you can make a quick pocket to put a *mini book* inside!!

And here we used that same paper to make... a *mini* accordion book!!!

This is a quick one... just take an old metal tin (such as an Altoid tin) and run some ribbon along the side.. easy miniature suitcase!! Great if you are looking to give a tiny set of toys to a kid or if you want to give them a little book or a tiny note.. it is just a fun way to package up a little gift!!

Here we have another idea for using the metal tins... make a small diorama!

Using charms, ribbon, paper and Diamond Glaze, you can make a miniature pond too!!

Or, using die-cuts, ribbon, and a bit of brown paper, you can make a tiny camping scene!

This last Miniature Idea was made a few months ago and was brought by just to show *what all you can do* in the world of Miniatures!!

Elli calls this the Mini Kitchen and it was put together inside this adorable little lantern!! (Lantern was found at a thrift shop)

Some fun details to note:

Handles and details on the dishwasher and cupboards was all done using a silver gel pen!!
The knives are made with a little magnet sheet and are EVEN REMOVABLE!!
Wood grain paper to make the cutting board look real

and SO MUCH MORE!!

If you find yourself working on a miniature project, swing by the store to get inspired or to get some help!!

We are here to help with any project and we are FULL of ideas! Stop by to see us 7 days a week!!
360-647-9663

Alcohol Ink Backgrounds

4/13/2018

This week for Demo, Denise showed us all the fun background ideas using Alcohol Inks!!

Check out some of the samples!

You can create easy backgrounds by just doing a splatter effect with droplets of Alcohol Ink..

This one looked kind of like bouncing balls in the background!! Perfect for this silhouette stamp from Impression Obsession..

This is a fun effect.. Kromekote paper is what we use most of the time for doing Alcohol Inks. Here, Denise used a piece of saran wrap to create this fun texture..

I love how with this one she used a combination of Alcohol Inks, an Embossing Folder, and Embossing Powder to make the design stand out!!

This next one was done on a piece of Acetate and then mounted on white card stock.. WOW!!

Check out how some of these other ones turned out.. Denise used stencils and die-cuts to show how you can use products you already have at home to use with Alcohol Inks.. I love how she helps us think outside the box!!

Don't forget to join us every week for FREE DEMO!!

We offer it every Wednesday from Noon to 1pm and there is always a new technique to share!!

See you next week!

Tuesday with Wendy, April 10th

4/10/2018

This week for Wendy's card making class, it was all about using stencils!!

We have been getting in a lot of new stencils recently.. so for class Wendy designed 3 cards using the stencils in different ways.

Check out how fun the cards are this week!!

To start, the first card is made using this new leaf stamp from Fred B. Mullett, Salal Lines, the Tim Holtz String Stencil, and the ALL NEW Hero Arts Liquid Watercolors

To make the card:

Stamp the leaf image TWICE with Versamark ink and emboss with Detail White Embossing Powder on white card stock
Using the new Hero Arts Liquid Watercolors and a Waterbrush, watercolor over the leaf images. Wendy used these beautiful purple, blues and green tones to create these gorgeous color combinations (Wendy only placed a couple droplets of the Liquid Watercolor into the palette and diluted SOME of the colors so she had dark tones and light tones of each color)
Then, Wendy used the String Stencil and layed it on top of the leaf images. Using the Waterbrush again, she just swiped the color across so that the String pattern transferred onto the background of the leaves
Next, she took a piece of Blue Mesh Ribbon and CUT IT IN HALF so you end up with 2 narrow, long strips. She put a piece of mesh above and below the leaves so it framed them nicely and used double-sided tape to adhere the image down on a green card stock card base

Check out how fun this card is!!

This next card was an easy one to make and is a lovely card for a friend!

Wendy used the new Tim Holtz Stencil, Code and the new Altenew stamp set, Simple Flowers

To make the card:

First, stamp the sentiment in Versamark ink and emboss with Carnelian Embossing Powder on white card stock
Next, using the Code Stencil and Finger Daubers, stencil just at the bottom of the card. Wendy used 4 colors of Distress Oxide inks (Worn Lipstick, Carved Pumpkin, Wilted Violet, and Peeled Paint). Students had the option of using one or more of the colors to do the stenciling.. using Finger Daubers to apply the ink evenly
Then, Wendy used the Tim Holtz Platform to arrange the Simple Flowers stamps. She inked up the stamp using the SAME 4 Distress Oxide inks. Bringing the stamp pad DIRECTLY to the stamps, students were able to get a nice saturation of color for their flowers
Then, to finish the card, Wendy used a strip of Red Double Dot paper by BoBunny and CUT IT IN HALF lengthwise (just like we did with the ribbon in the last card) and framed the flowers by placing a strip on either side.
Wendy finished the card by using double-sided tape to adhere it to a purple card base

What a BEAUTIFUL card!!

The last card in the series was made using the new Impression Obsession stamp, Elephant Scene and 2 ATC Stencils from Joggles, Dot-Dash and Daggers

To make the card:

Stamp the Elephant Scene stamp out on Aged Astroparche paper with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink and emboss with Clear Bark Embossing Powder
Then, using the Daggers Stencil first, overlay the stencil and use a Jumbo Dauber to ink the stencil. Wendy used the Distress Ink Stormy Sky
Next, she did the same process with the Dot-Dash stencil and used the Distress ink Rusty Hinge and a Finger Dauber to apply the ink
To frame out the image, she once again used a piece of ribbon and CUT IN HALF lengthwise to create 2 narrow strips which she used above and below the Elephant Scene and adhered it to a textured backgound paper that had the same colors in it as the inks we used (blue and orange)
She mounted the entire piece onto a nice, soft blue card stock using double-sided tape.